Pokemon Go: Candela's Journey
by Schmitterling
Summary: This is about Candela's journey, of course! Enter into her world and see what her eyes see. It's time for her to explore the Sinnoh region! What adventures will unfold? This is completely pokemon-based. I hope all of you enjoy my portrayal of the leader trio! Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon.
1. Chapter 1

The wind was breezy, just as the professor had warned me. I wanted to meet up with trainers from Sinnoh, since they had their own battle system outside of the gyms. The system intrigued me. My goal is to figure out how Pokémon can strengthen themselves, with or without the help of a trainer. I wanted Blanche to come with, since they're researching evolution, but they told me they had other business to take care of.

Blanche is considered newer out of the three of us, so we try our best to learn from them. As for Spark... he decided to come with me, but for his own reasons. We'll be going our separate ways, much as he'd like to stay with me.

"I'm so glad we got this boat ride! Leader Jasmine knows what she's doing." Spark said. He was enjoying his sweet time, and I was feeling sick to my stomach. Boats were not my cup of tea. Soon as the medicine kicks in, I'll be able to walk around all I want, but for now I'm stuck with the nausea. I brought up the topic of flight, but because we were in Johto at the time and met up with Jasmine, she offered us a good deal for this boat.

"Spark... can we head back inside? Where the boat's calmer?" I asked and used my jacket to shield myself from the wind and the water that would possibly get inside the boat. Despite my shouts, it didn't seem that the other leader heard a word. I frowned in disbelief and tried to ignore my stomach pain by enjoying the scenery. The waves were rough, but the sky was clear.

"Blanche would love this. We should take a picture, want to head inside?" he finally asked me a question with like minds. I nodded, but the slightest nod made the pain kick in more. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back inside.

"I think I need to lay down, Spark..." my stomach started to worsen, and I clutched onto him like a lost child. He started to pick up what I was going through; at least I assumed as he rubbed my back. It calmed my mind, but the pain stayed all the same.

"It's only a few more hours, I think. I know where there's better medicine, want me to get it?" after I said a "Yes please," in response, he took me on over to the bed. I took this chance to lay down for now and sent out my Flareon, who happily laid beside me. Spark let out his Jolteon not long after to help.

"Don't you need him...?" I asked in confusion, since his Jolteon was one of his best teammates, but Spark gave me a head shake.

There have been rumors that something strange has been going on this ship, but we have yet to see anything. We have been keeping our guard up, but we've also been trying to enjoy our time together. I would love to enjoy my time more if it weren't for this terrible sensation.

"I'll be fine. You wait here with these two. Besides, you need his help more." Spark winked and waved after he spoke before he closed the door behind him. I patted the Jolteon beside me and watched Spark leave. It didn't take him long to return and offer me the medicine. Before I knew it, I passed out. Whatever was in that medicine was supposedly working.

I opened my eyes and felt good as new. The two Pokémon seemed to have wandered. I wasn't worried, since Spark probably let them out. I stood up and held my head. The fast movement made my head spin even more-so than before.

"Calm down, Candela. Spark? Are you there?" I waited a few minutes for an answer. My head continued to throb, but it also started to settle. When I finally scanned around, he was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he went to take the Pokémon out, since they were also out of the room. I got out of the bed slowly to see if the nausea was still there. Since it felt faded, I headed out of the room.

The boat was still mobile; it'd probably take a few more hours before we made it to Sinnoh. I headed over to the dining hall. People were sitting down and interacting, but I didn't want to communicate at the time. My mind was wondering where Spark ran off to. Not wanting to be held back by greetings, I ran out of the area and went up the stairs.

I checked the deck first. So far, there were no signs of Spark. I looked over the side of the deck. The waves the boat made mesmerized me, but that wasn't the only thing that caught my eye.

Down below was Spark's Jolteon, who looked up at me when he sensed me. We locked eyes for a moment, but when I looked back the other direction, I saw a shadow that headed for the surface. I was about to shout, but it was already too late.

The Jolteon slipped, and my Flareon (who tried to support it) fell in along with it. I pulled out a pokéball to return my Pokémon, but she was too far away. I grabbed the bar to jump below but my shoes were not made for acrobatics.

Instead, gravity defied me and I had to hold on. A hand grabbed hold of me; it was Spark's. The boat rocked a bit more, and my whole body slipped further. I looked frantically for any sign of the two Pokémon, but they were already further out. I wasn't a great swimmer; my body was already sinking. I wanted to yell for my bird, but it was a lot harder to do than I thought. My eyes started to close.

I felt my heart slow down, but then speed up. I could feel the pain in my chest pull at me more. I wanted to move, but I felt prevented from doing so. It felt like a pile of bricks fell on top of me. I tried to move my arm, but my body felt paralyzed. I did see a light out of all the darkness. There was someone up ahead. I let out a scream, to let them know I was there.

"Spark… what happened?" I managed to move my body upward and winced when Spark turned on the light beside the bed. There was some sort of feather in a cup beside me—it glowed slightly as if it reacted to something. However, whatever caused it to glow must have finished its effects, since it started to fade. The Flareon beside me licked my fingers, as she looked healthy along with Spark's Jolteon.

"I don't know exactly. I tried to talk to the Professor about it, and he said a Pokémon must've caused it. That's when he recommended I find this. It wasn't easy." He picked up the feather and handed it to me. Curious, I took it and examined it closely. The feather was green and white, from a Pokémon that I couldn't quite make out. I was about to ask, but then I remembered what happened.

"There was… a dark figure. What was I doing until now, Spark?" my mind felt hazy. I gripped onto my head. When the feather touched my face, I calmed down a little.

"You were in a deep sleep. I thought it was because of the effects of the medicine, so I waited a bit, but…" he rubbed the back of his head.

"…For how long…" I wasn't known to be a heavy sleeper, so that should've given it away that something was wrong, but Spark did have a point that the medicine would've done the job.

"We'll be reaching Sinnoh late tonight, if that helps. You screamed quite a few times, and I got worried." My yellow eyes went wide for a moment. I went over and gave him a hug. Thankfully, he hugged me back.

"I didn't realize… um. The Pokémon must be from Sinnoh… Blanche would be more interested than us. But if it's a legendary…" I paused and looked up at Spark. I wanted to ask why I couldn't wake up in the first place. It still didn't register in my mind completely. He simply rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"That's called a Lunar Wing. That's what the Professor told me. It's related to Cresselia. Umm…" I raised a brow once Spark paused with his words. Whenever he had something on his mind, he'd get too nervous to talk about it. It was the same as Blanche, and putting those two together was like a pile of bricks.

"Then the rumors on this boat were true. There's something else on this ship, no?" I let him go and twiddled my fingers through the feather, curious on how it worked. I knew it had to do with when I was asleep, otherwise it wouldn't have reacted that way. I saw Spark nod in response, but he still seemed nervous about the situation. Sometimes it was easy to tell how he reacted, sometimes it wasn't. Right now, his reaction was unusual to me. He turned his back on me. I assumed it was to hide his concerns.

"With the Lunar Wing, it shouldn't happen to me again, Spark. But you should watch yourself. You don't have one of your own, right?" I watched him fiddle with the ends of his hair. The good thing about the Instinct Leader was that he knew how to get out of dangerous situations, but being smack dab in the middle of them made him worry.

"…Where did you get this from, anyway?" I placed it next to my Flareon, so the fire-type could have a look at the Lunar Wing. The Pokémon's eyes were more intent on watching me, though. I patted its head, and waited on Spark to respond. I was hoping my calm atmosphere would share empathy with him, but so far it wasn't working. For such an intuitive leader, one would think they'd notice their surroundings.

"Someone on the deck below us. They seemed to have known about the situation, and gave it to me." I narrowed my eyes at him. I knew Spark had a strange way of handling situations. Something about this situation sounded farfetched. I hopped out of bed and went to head toward the door, but he grabbed my arm before I could move any further.

"Where are you going?" he let go when he felt me tugging, knowing very well not to get on my bad side. I knew that he was worried, but I refused to let his worries stop me.

"To the person you mentioned. I need you to come with me. Remember, I'll be fine." I showed him the Lunar Wing which I strapped onto my belt for now. He gave me a slight nod and lead the way. Since Blanche wasn't here, Spark's personality had dropped a ton. It was rather hard to get through to Spark. Perhaps I was just overthinking it.

"He might not have another…" Spark muttered his words and pointed in the right direction. He knew I sometimes liked to rush ahead. I took this opportunity and walked in front of him while he dragged behind for once.

"That's completely okay. I'm not after another. I want to know more about the rumors on this ship. Don't you?" I glanced at him and he simply stared at me with his mouth agape. He picked up his Jolteon and patted it on the head, only to point at the next corner.

"Room 480. He'll be in there." After saying "thanks," I went on ahead and started to knock on the door to their cabin. They immediately answered, looking ready to go somewhere. They had a strange jacket on; it was black, and gray in color. Their hair was almost red, and his eyes a silver-blue. I wasn't sure what to think of their hair-style choice, but I wasn't one to judge.

"You must be Candela. Spark told me about you. It's a pleasure. I'm Jasper, did you… need something from me?" he spoke rather formally for someone that didn't look formal. They looked rather young, too. Then again, so did Spark, and Spark was around my age.

"I did have a few questions… and thank you for saving me." I wasn't the best at saying thanks, but it did happen to slip out. I quickly glanced away after I saw Jasper pull a smile. He let himself out of his room once I moved aside. Now that I had a better chance to look at him, he was a tall man, and pale.

"You should be thanking Spark, not me. I only helped a little. Go ahead and ask away, but I do have a dinner to attend. Would you two like to join me?" he sounded sincere. I gave him a nod in response and so did Spark, but then Spark stuttered slightly.

"A-actually I can't! I have something I need to do. Sorry Candela, you're on your own!" fast as his words, Spark bolted out of our sight. I sighed, unsure what to do with that boy. I wanted to give him the Lunar Wing, but he was already gone before I had the chance to react.

"I guess that means you're coming with me, good. Perhaps you can help me out a little bit." Without allowing me to make my decision, Jasper was already leading the way. I started to get nervous now that Spark was gone, but I felt that wasn't the only reason. Something about Jasper was unsettling to me.

"Help you…?" I didn't know what I was getting into, but I started to follow them anyway. I still had questions to ask about the rumors on this ship, and I didn't want to give up now.

"Yes. Your vote would mean a lot. I'm trying to form a team, just like you did. It would mean more competition for all of you. You like competition, don't you?" he fixed his gloves and I fixed mine self-consciously. He was right, I was the one that enjoyed competition more than the other two, especially when it came to Blanche. Blanche was newer, but they successfully surpassed Spark and I. Spark's team was very motivated, so they're starting to pick up. My team looked to be falling behind them, but we wouldn't back down.

"I don't know if the league would allow it officially. It was settled at three teams. But this isn't what I want to discuss right now." He was trying to throw me off, I could feel it. We ended up making it to the dinner hall again before I could react any further. It seems my questions would have to wait. Judging from Spark's reaction previously, he knew what Jasper wanted from us. I was only hoping that Spark hadn't made a deal to get the Lunar Wing.

"Hello, mad 'am. I brought us a special guest, she'll be joining us for dinner. Have a seat." I stared at the lady he was talking to. Purple eyes. Lovely long, dark blue hair. She was sipping at a wine glass, but I could see her smile when she saw that I was joining. I recognized her. Her name wasn't that known, since she tended to stay in the dark, but she was part of the league council. I only met her once when the three of us got introduced for being picked as team leaders.

"Nice to see you again, Candela. I hope Jasper didn't drag you into this. He is rather persistent… but it sounds familiar, no?" I looked away while Jasper helped push in my seat. She did have a point, as I happened to also be persistent when it came to certain things. The other leaders knew that.

"He took it as an opportunity. I have other business with him." Which he seemed to be avoiding. I stared at him as he pushed in his own seat, only to wave at me. At least we weren't sitting next to each other. If we were, I would've crushed his foot.

"I see. That's why you're not dressed for this occasion. You brought a lot of attention to our table, Jasper." I remembered I was wearing my leader jacket, and looked behind me. A lot of people were starting to build chatter. I wasn't sure how it was unusual for leaders being on board, as this was a fancy ship. It seems that not everyone on here believed in rumors. Not wanting anymore chatter, I decided to take off my jacket and place it behind the chair.

"This is why we should've gotten a private room, but it seems they're already taken by someone else. Anyway, what do you think of the name Team Void?" he ordered his own drink as he spoke, tapping at the menu and showing the waiter. I decided to stick with water, knowing very well how I was acting earlier.

"That sounds preposterous. What color were you planning on making your team? Black? It would not suit the others. The other teams have a ring to it." I listened to their conversation and sipped at my water, wanting to get out of here asap. This is not what I was expecting to end up in on a boat ride to Sinnoh.

"Actually, I was thinking green would match. I wanted red, but Candela took that color already." I wanted to facepalm. It's not like we had a choice in our colors, as the colors depended on our legendary birds.

"You don't even have a legendary. We'd have to postpone this meeting until you get one. Understand? Now answer her questions. She's having to take the time to listen to you." I sighed in relief, glad that the girl was on my side. She started to get up and leave, however. I watched her put on her jacket.

"Wait, where are you going?" Jasper seemed confused, but I understood why she wanted to leave. I'd love to leave if it weren't for the fact that I had questions to ask him.

"To get some fresh air. I'll just have them deliver my meal to my room. Good luck with whatever you need out of this man, Candela. I'd rather handle Spark than him." She didn't seem to know that Spark was on this ship, from the sounds of it. I gave her a wave in response, and she left. People stopped paying attention to our table once she was gone. It seems she was the one that attracted a lot of attention.

"Since we can't talk about that… what did you need again?" I tried not to show my annoyance, but I had a very bad habit of doing so. However, he seemed to be used to others being annoyed at him.

"I wanted to know about the rumors on this ship. I've only heard of them briefly, but they seem to be causing problems. What do you know about them? You seem prepared." it didn't take long for the food to come, surprisingly. I decided to take this opportunity to try and eat.

"Not a whole lot. I've heard most things from other people. Something black entering people's rooms, they say. Or their friends would sleep restlessly. That's what happened to you, it seems." Jasper happily munched on his bread. His reactions made no sense to me, as he was troubled earlier because of the leader council.

"How come you had a Lunar Wing on you…? How did the Professor know you had it?" I was confused when it came to the facts. Spark had a strange way of meeting up with people like Jasper.

"Ehm… I was talking legendaries to him, and my mouth slipped. I got it from a friend a ways back, and it seemed to have come in handy. Speaking of… could I have it back? You don't seem to need it anymore." Feeling frustrated that this guy wasn't answering things completely, I handed the Lunar Wing back to him. He happily stuck it behind his ear. I don't know why I was thinking Spark had the right to keep it.

"You're not very good at answering… if you want to be a leader, you should practice answering questions. You'll get asked a lot. Now then… how was Spark able to find you?" I tried to elaborate a little more to make it easier, but he quietly hummed. He seemed rather ignorant.

"Well… he shouted for help. He's rather noisy, and nosy. He saw me talking over the phone with the Professor, and the Professor suggested I help him. I went to my room after that. If you want to be asking anyone questions, it should be Spark. He'll probably know more than me. He's rather intuitive." He wasn't wrong there. I quickly ate my meal, and the rest of the dinner was filled with silence surprisingly. Jasper did have someone talk to him halfway through the meal, but they didn't even look at me. I decided to ignore them.

"I should get going. I need to figure out where Spark ran off to, the boat should be landing soon…" the boat was supposed to arrive in Sinnoh late tonight. Even if I did find everything about the mystery Pokémon, it might end up hopping off board soon as the ship lands.

"We should arrive around midnight. Do you two have a place to stay? I could help with that if you don't." I wasn't sure what he was planning, but I turned down his offer. He seemed disappointed, but this sounded better than having to deal with him.

"…Good luck with your mystery Pokémon, Candela." He fixed his gloves again and gave me a wave, finally getting out of my sight. It was a shame I couldn't keep the Lunar Wing, since now the Pokémon could target me easily, but I also wondered if it would bother putting me to sleep twice.

"Where are you, Spark…?" I hurried around the ship, deciding to check our room first. Of course, he wasn't there. I had to take a moment to think, before running to the deck and checking there. Fortunately, there was no one. My dream wasn't about to become true. I rushed off to the battleground arena on the ship. There were a lot of trainers here, trying to finish their matches before the boat landed. I met up with a couple of Instinct's teammates, wondering if they've seen Spark.

They said they didn't even know he was on board, along with finding it surprising that I was, too. I gave them a wave and told them to let me know if they saw Spark. For some reason, finding Spark was harder than finding Blanche. I only hoped that his intuition would kick in and he'd know I'd be looking for him, just like that. Unfortunately, intuition didn't seem to work that way.

I started to head back to my room and figured it'd be best to wait for him to show up. When I saw someone familiar, I quickly hid behind the corner. It was the league council girl from before, and she was talking to someone. I assumed it was Jasper trying to pester her again.

"—that Candela's in danger… I see." It seems that I came in at a bad time. Listening was my only option right now if I wanted to find out more about their conversation. Whatever danger they spoke of, I felt I had the right to know right away.

"Please don't tell her. I want her to enjoy this trip, and not take it seriously. She's been taking a lot of things seriously lately…" I raised a brow at the soft voice that I didn't expect to hear on the other end. It was true, I have been taking things too far, but that's how I always deal with things. I started to wonder why they were concerned for my well-being.

"Isn't this a business trip, regardless? But I'll listen to your intuition, Spark. I do have a favor to ask you." She seemed to know a lot, and apparently, so did Spark… this wasn't what I expected. He seemed to be on good terms with her. Her and I were neutral when it came to things.

"Sure, I do owe you one." He owed her? I started to wonder what he was doing from the time of the dinner and now. Spark wasn't one to talk about his problems, he was the type to listen to others. He seemed to enjoy being the mysterious out of the three of us.

"Try and keep her away from Jasper. I am worried much as you. I fear he might want to take down Team Valor." My mind was baffled at her words. We did have a lot of haters, I admit, but not anyone brave enough to actually try and prevail. That's also not what he said to me at the dining table.

"…Aren't you the one that left her with him at the dinner?" Spark sounded concerned as I was, and I was able to finally see him from the corner. He moved slightly, seeming to head toward the direction of our room. Perhaps his intuition was kicking in right now.

"I had no choice. That man has his own way around things, and besides, she probably needed to eat. Don't worry, he won't poison her. I should get back to my room, the ship will be landing soon. She might be looking for you, Spark." During the time she spoke, I saw Spark's blue eyes glance over at my direction. I hurriedly hid deeper in my corner. The intuitive leader was shocking sometimes.

"I'll do the same… thanks for talking to me. If you hear anything about _that_ Pokémon, let me know." Spark waved at her and entered our room not far from them. I waited for the league council girl to be out of my sight, and decided to wait five minutes more so Spark wouldn't have any superstition. Eventually, I went back into the room.

"Spark, hey. I was wondering where you went." He gave me a small "hey Candela" and went back to what he was working on at the desk. Curious as I was, I went over to have a look. It was a drawing of some sort of Pokémon that wasn't familiar to me. He seemed to be working on this even before he came in, since he had a lot done already.

"I had to give Jasper back the Lunar Wing, I hope you don't mind." I was about to grab the edge of his chair, but he spun around and looked at me in surprise. He fiddled with his pencil to try and hide his nerves, but I could clearly see them despite his attempts.

"I didn't know he wanted it back. I thought it was for you to keep. We'll be landing soon, anyway…" he shook his head and went back to his drawing, taking out a red pen and coloring over certain parts of the sketch. He had an interesting art style compared to Blanche's. Spark's appeared more soft and cloudy yet hazy, while Blanche's seemed to shout in style, yet had a crisp look.

"…Is there something you want to tell me, Spark?" this boy wasn't the best at hiding things, at least not around me. I had a feeling he knew I knew, but he still shook his head. Knowing I wouldn't get a word out of his mouth, I decided to sit on my bed and wait. There was the thought of napping, but that didn't sound promising right now.

"I'll tell you sometime when we're in Sinnoh." Somehow, Spark never failed to surprise me. This rather pleased me and kept me a little more at ease, since the boy did seem to have information he wanted to share with me. I decided to get comfortable in my spot and pull out a book, waiting for the ship to dock.


	2. Chapter 2

It didn't take long before we arrived in Sinnoh. I was hoping to find out more information about the mysterious Pokémon, but no one seemed to have heard anything. They were all clueless as we were. Spark told me to wait for him so he can talk to the league council girl one more time. I waited patiently as I could, wondering how long it would take for them to talk. Luckily Spark didn't take long, and came just in time before Jasper could come up to me. Spark took my arm and led the way, leaving Jasper clueless. The mysterious boy went to talk to the league council member instead, allowing Spark and I some space.

"Which Inn are we staying at tonight…? It'll take us a while to reach our destinations." I did enjoy leaving at night, but we were both tired from our travels. Spark wanted to follow me for long as he could.

"The one by the Pokemon Center will do, if it's not too packed." I agreed with his decision. Luckily, we managed to reserve a room- his intuition being spot-on once again. This time instead of me laying on the bed once we entered the room, it was Spark, who tapped his fingers on his stomach and looked at the ceiling.

"What was it you wanted to share with me, Spark…?" I went to sit at the edge of the bed, knowing he won't mind. He stayed silent for a few moments, as if trying to sort out the thoughts in his head.

"Mm, well…" he continued to lay in his spot, but he started to kick his feet. To me it didn't look like he wanted to sit still. I stood up and offered him a hand.

"Want to go on a late walk?" he looked at me and nodded, taking my offer and grinning as he was pulled back onto his feet. We headed outside and decided to check around the area, but not straying too far away from town. I let Spark lead the way since he had the most energy. He held an egg in his arms, taking this as a good opportunity. I gave him all the time he needed. Most of our walk was silent; it wasn't until we turned around that he started to seem more lively.

"I have some information on that Pokémon for you. It's not a whole lot, though, but maybe you can find out more than me. You're good at that." He put his hands behind his head and looked at the moon. I continued to watch him carefully and our surroundings.

"Do you know what it's called, then? You said it's related to Cresselia.." I had a feeling I knew which one it was, but I wasn't positive. There were many Sinnoh legendaries compared to any other region.

"It's called Darkrai, and it does like to stay on its own little Island. Someone thinks it got lost. I think… Jasper might be researching it, and that's why he had the Lunar Wing on hand." Well, that made sense to me. Whoever Jasper was, they knew their way around things, as the league council lady had said. They were especially interested in me.

"Darkrai… I've heard of it. I wonder what it wanted from me. Help, perhaps?" I started to question this Pokémon's motives. It didn't want on the ship, that much we knew. How it ended up on board was the real question. What it wanted was another. I was contemplating my thoughts until Spark tapped my shoulder to get my attention.

Up ahead were two trainers in a pokemon battle. This place had one of our league gyms, and it was team instinct vs. team valor. We decided to hide in a corner, not wanting to distract the trainers from their match. Team Instinct had the current gym, but my team was taking it over. There were two people. One looked unfamiliar to me, the other… Jasper.

When Spark saw that he was on my team, he pulled me closer into the hiding spot. I knew what was up but didn't say anything, and allowed him to keep me hidden. He wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth covered, trying not to look annoyed.

The Pokemon that Jasper sent out was a Gengar, one at a decent CP. The other trainer helping them had a Rapidash, which was easily dominating this gym. It took them both a few tries, but they eventually took over. When they did, I felt a hint of regret. Whoever Jasper was… I didn't want him on my team. Spark obviously didn't either, as he seemed to be busy sending someone a text message. I tapped him to see what he was doing.

"Shh." I rolled my eyes when he put a hand over my mouth so I wouldn't have the chance to say anything. I stared at him down in despair and waited for Jasper to leave. When the gym turned red indicating that team valor took over, he left, his Gengar and the Rapidash now on the front line. Once he was out of sight, Spark let me free.

"…I was texting for help in the Sinnoh region. I'm not letting that loser make you uncomfortable. He doesn't deserve to be on anyone's team." As Spark let out his words, he looked about ready to punch someone in the face. I simply looked at him straight in the eyes.

"I'm not sure what you have against this guy Spark, but for now he's like any other trainer. Let him have this gym. If you guys take them over, he'll think something's up. Besides, some of Blanche's teammates might take it." I went to have a closer look at the gym, but Spark pulled me back again. Someone else had already taken a spot and raised its prestige drastically. I was surprised with how many Valor's were in Sinnoh.

"Let's get going." Spark started to lead the way back. I watched the gym closely, wondering who would take the next spot before turning to follow. It's been a long day, and I knew Spark was tired, which would explain why he was overreacting right now. He surprisingly stayed quiet, only making noises once one of his eggs had successfully hatched into a baby Nidoran.

"Do you think we should call Blanche in the morning, or right now…? They did say call soon as we got here…" the thought had just occurred to me. I wasn't sure how late Blanche stayed up, but we all seemed to be night owls, despite Spark being an early riser.

"Yeah, let's do that. Hang on, I'll call them…" Spark started to call them up. It took a few rings, but eventually they did answer. We were almost back at our Inn.

"Spark…? Is Candela with you?" Blanche sounded tired. Spark put the phone on speaker, so it'd be easier for both of us.

"She is. We're both fine, it's been a long day. How about you, are things good on your end?" whenever I listen to Spark talk to Blanche, he sounded excited. Then again, I also had that vibe. There was something about Blanche that lighted up our energy. We welcomed them with open arms.

"Mm… I think so. I did talk to someone important, it was Lance. He had information on the Battle Frontier for Candela." I raised a brow, and both me and Spark looked at each other. I wasn't sure if he was thinking the same thing as me.

"We met up with someone important, too. Lucienne was on the ship." Spark said her name with ease. For some reason, I always forgot her name. She told it to me when we were first introduced, but it wasn't easy to remember.

"Lucienne was there? Hmm… we can talk about this tomorrow, when I'm able to comprehend words. Good night, you two." Before I had the chance to speak up, Blanche hung up the phone. Spark stretched his arms in the air and went on ahead to open the door to our room. Thankfully, we didn't run into anyone else on the way back.

"Makes me wonder what Blanche's doing if they met up with Lance. Maybe Lance knows more about Jasper. What do you think?" I shrugged my shoulders and went into the other room to change into my night clothes. Spark waited for me to finish so he could do the same.

"I think there's more to Jasper than him just being on my team. He was talking about Team Void… what an eerie name…" while Spark was changing, although I couldn't see, I knew that he had paused what he was doing. A hint of concern had filled the atmosphere, but it immediately disappeared when he stepped out.

"…What are you wearing?" I never did understand Spark's fashion sense. He flopped on his bed and looked at me, finally making his grin of the day. I thought I'd never be able to see it.

"You've never worn Pokémon pajamas before? Try them sometime, they're super-duper comfortable. And you can have fun in them." I didn't want to know what he meant by 'fun', but I simply shook my head. He lay down on his bed and turned off the light.

"Anyway, let's get some sleep. Gotta wake up before the Pidgey do, y'know." I found it hard to understand the way he phrased things, but it is Spark that was saying them. I let him set the alarm and before I knew it, it was lights out.


	3. Chapter 3

It didn't take long before we arrived in Sinnoh. I was hoping to find out more information about the mysterious Pokémon, but no one seemed to have heard anything. They were all clueless as we were. Spark told me to wait for him so he can talk to the league council girl one more time. I waited patiently as I could, wondering how long it would take for them to talk. Luckily Spark didn't take long, and came just in time before Jasper could come up to me. Spark took my arm and led the way, leaving Jasper clueless. The mysterious boy went to talk to the league council member instead, allowing Spark and I some space.

"Which Inn are we staying at tonight…? It'll take us a while to reach our destinations." I did enjoy leaving at night, but we were both tired from our travels. Spark wanted to follow me for long as he could.

"The one by the Pokemon Center will do, if it's not too packed." I agreed with his decision. Luckily, we managed to reserve a room, his intuition being spot-on once again. This time instead of me laying on the bed once we entered the room, it was Spark, who tapped his fingers on his stomach and looked at the ceiling.

"What was it you wanted to share with me, Spark…?" I went to sit at the edge of the bed, knowing he won't mind. He stayed silent for a few moments, as if trying to sort out the thoughts in his head.

"Mm, well…" he continued to lay in his spot, but he started to kick his feet. To me it didn't look like he wanted to sit still. I stood up and offered him a hand.

"Want to go on a late walk?" he looked at me and nodded, taking my offer and grinning as he was pulled back onto his feet. We headed outside and decided to check around the area, but not straying too far away from town. I let Spark lead the way since he had the most energy. He held an egg in his arms, taking this as a good opportunity. I gave him all the time he needed. Most of our walk was silent; it wasn't until we turned around that he started to seem more lively.

"I have some information on that Pokémon for you. It's not a whole lot, though, but maybe you can find out more than me. You're good at that." He put his hands behind his head and looked at the moon. I continued to watch him carefully and our surroundings.

"Do you know what it's called, then? You said it's related to Cresselia.." I had a feeling I knew which one it was, but I wasn't positive. There were many Sinnoh legendaries compared to any other region.

"It's called Darkrai, and it does like to stay on its own little Island. Someone thinks it got lost. I think… Jasper might be researching it, and that's why he had the Lunar Wing on hand." Well, that made sense to me. Whoever Jasper was, they knew their way around things, as the league council lady had said. They were especially interested in me.

"Darkrai… I've heard of it. I wonder what it wanted from me. Help, perhaps?" I started to question this Pokémon's motives. It didn't want on the ship, that much we knew. How it ended up on board was the real question. What it wanted was another. I was contemplating my thoughts until Spark tapped my shoulder to get my attention.

Up ahead were two trainers in a pokemon battle. This place had one of our league gyms, and it was team instinct vs. team valor. We decided to hide in a corner, not wanting to distract the trainers from their match. Team Instinct had the current gym, but my team was taking it over. There were two people. One looked unfamiliar to me, the other… Jasper.

When Spark saw that he was on my team, he pulled me closer into the hiding spot. I knew what was up but didn't say anything, and allowed him to keep me hidden. He wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth covered, trying not to look annoyed.

The Pokemon that Jasper sent out was a Gengar, one at a decent CP. The other trainer helping them had a Rapidash, which was easily dominating this gym. It took them both a few tries, but they eventually took over. When they did, I felt a hint of regret. Whoever Jasper was… I didn't want him on my team. Spark obviously didn't either, as he seemed to be busy sending someone a text message. I tapped him to see what he was doing.

"Shh." I rolled my eyes when he put a hand over my mouth so I wouldn't have the chance to say anything. I stared at him down in despair and waited for Jasper to leave. When the gym turned red indicating that team valor took over, he left, his Gengar and the Rapidash now on the front line. Once he was out of sight, Spark let me free.

"…I was texting for help in the Sinnoh region. I'm not letting that loser make you uncomfortable. He doesn't deserve to be on anyone's team." As Spark let out his words, he looked about ready to punch someone in the face. I simply looked at him straight in the eyes.

"I'm not sure what you have against this guy Spark, but for now he's like any other trainer. Let him have this gym. If you guys take them over, he'll think something's up. Besides, some of Blanche's teammates might take it." I went to have a closer look at the gym, but Spark pulled me back again. Someone else had already taken a spot and raised its prestige drastically. I was surprised with how many Valor's were actually in Sinnoh.

"Let's get going." Spark started to lead the way back. I watched the gym closely, wondering who would take the next spot before turning to follow. It's been a long day, and I knew Spark was tired, which would explain why he was overreacting right now. He surprisingly stayed quiet, only making noises once his egg had successfully hatched into a baby Nidoran.

"Do you think we should call Blanche in the morning, or right now…? They did say call soon as we got here…" the thought had just occurred to me. I wasn't sure how late Blanche stayed up, but we all seemed to be night owls, despite Spark being an early riser.

"Yeah, let's do that. Hang on, I'll call them…" Spark started to call them up. It took a few rings, but eventually they did answer. We were almost back at our Inn.

"Spark…? Is Candela with you?" Blanche sounded tired. Spark put the phone on speaker, so it'd be easier for both of us.

"She is. We're both fine, it's been a long day. How about you, are things good on your end?" whenever I listen to Spark talk to Blanche, he sounded excited. Then again, I also had that vibe. There was something about Blanche that lighted up our energy. We welcomed them with open arms.

"Mm… I think so. I did talk to someone important, it was Lance. He had information on the Battle Frontier for Candela." I raised a brow, and both me and Spark looked at each other. I wasn't sure if he was thinking the same thing as I.

"We met up with someone important, too. Lucienne was on the ship." Spark said her name with ease. For some reason, I always forgot her name. She told it to me when we were first introduced, but it wasn't easy to remember.

"Lucienne was there? Hmm… we can talk about this tomorrow, when I'm able to comprehend words. Good night, you two." Before I had the chance to speak up, Blanche hung up the phone. Spark stretched his arms in the air and went on ahead to open the door to our room. Thankfully, we didn't run into anyone else on the way back.

"Makes me wonder what Blanche's doing if they met up with Lance. Maybe Lance knows more about Jasper. What do you think?" I shrugged my shoulders and went into the other room to change into my night clothes. Spark waited for me to finish so he could do the same.

"I think there's more to Jasper than him just being on my team. He was talking about Team Void… what an eerie name…" while Spark was changing, although I couldn't see, I knew that he had paused what he was doing. A hint of concern had filled the atmosphere, but it immediately disappeared when he stepped out.

"…What are you wearing?" I never did understand Spark's fashion sense. He flopped on his bed and looked at me, finally making his grin of the day. I thought I'd never be able to see it.

"You've never worn Pokémon pajamas before? Try them sometime, they're super-duper comfortable. And you can have fun in them." I didn't want to know what he meant by 'fun', but I simply shook my head. He lay down on his bed and turned off the light.

"Anyway, let's get some sleep. Gotta wake up before the Pidgey do, y'know." I found it hard to understand the way he phrased things, but it is Spark we're talking about. I let him set the alarm and before I knew it, it was lights out.

Chapter Three

It was early, and Spark had already made his bed despite the fact the maid could do it. He was sitting by the desk drawing. Somehow, I seem to have slept through his painful alarm. As if sensing I woke up, he turned to look at me.

"Oh, good. You're awake. I was going to wake you up in a bit." He was already dressed and everything, ready to go.

"Why didn't you wake me…?" I felt my words trail off as I sat up and went to fix my hair. I didn't even want to look at my bedhead. Thankfully Spark said nothing about it.

"You were tired…? And besides, last time I woke you up on lack of sleep, you bit me like you were some Growlithe." I wanted to hold back my laughter at his words, but I couldn't. I saw him glance away.

"Sorry, it isn't funny, I just don't remember." He looked a little surprised and lifted his arms in the air in confusion.

"How do you not? I've had a bruise for about a week." I shrugged and finally finished fixing my hair, deciding to get dressed in the other room.

"Did you call Blanche yet?" sometimes Spark got overly excited when calling Blanche, so I always had to make sure.

"Nah, wanted to wait on you. Gave me a chance to finish my drawing." He lifted up his sketchbook and showed me the Darkrai that he drew. It was black, white and red ink. I looked at the design of the Pokémon's scarf curiously, the color attracting my attention.

"That's what it looks like? It looks more friendlier than I thought." Spark raised a brow and tapped the drawing with his fingers, seeming concerned.

"You think that's friendly? I mean, guess it could be, Pokémon do have their soft spot…" I listened to him trail off with his words, his mind seeming to wander elsewhere. I crossed my arms and kicked him softly, trying to get his attention back into the living.

"I got it. I'm going to help you!" he grinned behind his sketchbook and suddenly burst in excitement, catching me by surprise. I tried to seem unamused, but it was hard to pull off around Spark.

"Help me with what? The Darkrai?" I did have a slight interest in it, as it was a rare Pokémon. It was also powerful in its own form, and needed our help.

"Yep. It might be under stress, and I'm good at calming down Pokémon. I mean, I didn't tame Zapdos for nothing." He looked awfully giddy for a serious topic. I kept my arms crossed, uncertain about this decision as I was hoping to do this alone, but I knew he had other reasons why he wanted to stick with me.

"Alright, but I hope you're not late for your other research. We're not on vacation, Spark." He gave me a couple nods in response and a thumbs up, but it was hard to believe he was listening to a word I was saying. At least today he seemed more cheerful than before.

"Think we should call Blanche now, or eat first and then call… or… did they say they were going to call…." I rubbed my eye and let Spark talk, but truthfully I wasn't sure myself. Knowing Blanche, they were either awake or dead asleep. Not even the sound of their phone could wake them up.

"Mm… let's eat, then wait on their call. They'll wonder why we didn't call eventually." I yawned, still feeling a little tired despite getting more sleep than Spark. I had no clue where he gets all his energy, but I needed him to share some with me.

"Kay. We should eat here, it's easier. Unless you want to walk, but if we're waiting on their call…" Spark stood up and put his stuff away in his bag, noticing that I was ready to go. I shrugged, not minding what we do today since we had to find out about that Darkrai later. He looked me over, expecting more of an answer from me, but when he noticed I wasn't certain he decided to head out the door. I figured it'd be easier if I let him do most of the decision-making today, to put less stress on him.

Spark and I made it to the inn's dining hall, him humming a tune most of the way there. I did recognize it, but I didn't say anything. We sat down and enjoyed our meal peacefully. Spark had a couple of his teammates come up and chat with him. He did ask if they knew anything about the Darkrai he drew. While they conversed, I focused on eating. Spark was already done before me.

"Looks familiar, I think… there is someone on Miss Candela's team that happens to be in the infirmary at the Pokemon Center. They've been passed out for a while." We both looked at each other.

"Thanks for telling us. We'll go check it out. Be careful, you two." After telling us "we will", they both went on their way. I finished my drink and left a tip, since Spark decided to pay for my meal.

"How much do you want to bet it's Jasper?" Spark asked as we walked out the inn and made our way to the Pokemon Center.

"I bet nothing. He has a Lunar Wing, remember?" I sighed at the thought of him still having it.

"Right, then… probably his friend." I shrugged, unsure if that was the case or not. We made it inside the Pokemon Center and I decided to head to the counter.

"Nurse Joy, we'd like to see my teammate in the infirmary." The nurse took a moment to look at the both of us.

"Oh, Leader Spark and Candela! Of course. I'm glad they're getting more visitors. Right this way, please." We both gave her a confused look, but we quickly followed behind. Inside the room she led us to was someone with blonde hair, a bit lighter than Spark's. Kneeling next to them was Jasper, who was using the Lunar Wing. Spark glanced at me nervously and stepped in front of me. I knew we couldn't just turn back now, unless Blanche magically called to give us an excuse to leave.

We watched in awe as Jasper's friend finally woke up. They sat up and held their head, taking a moment to open their green eyes.

"Jasper? What happened?" they sounded confused as they looked around the room, slowly registering everything. He saw Spark first but then met eye contact with me.

"Darkrai made contact with you last night, but luckily someone found you. You're ok now." I gave the trainer a soft smile and nod as Jasper spoke, trying to reassure them.

"Thanks. Did you two need something?" I went ahead and stepped in front of Spark, moving closer to Jasper's friend. Jasper stayed in his place, seeming worried.

"Yeah. Where were you when you were attacked by Darkrai, do you remember?" they looked away from my eye contact, looking uncertain about the events that have happened in the past few hours. I waited patiently next to them to see if anything comes up, trying to ignore Jasper that was beside me.

"Mm… I remember leaving the gym we took over. Is my Rapidash still there…" worried about their gym, they took out their phone and went to check. I watched them sigh in relief, and they showed me. Their Rapidash was still there, and since Gengar was at the top of the gym, that means Jasper's Pokémon was also there.

"I parted ways with Jasper, he had other business to take care of. I… was heading back home, but the Pokémon that appeared in front of me stopped me. Their dark eyes… seemed focused on another direction. I thought there was someone watching us take over the gym, so I assumed it was them. Before I could think any further, I was knocked out." Now that I was listening to them more, they sounded more masculine. They had one of their appearances that made it hard to tell if they were a boy or a girl, like Blanche, but Blanche chose to be nonbinary and we respected that.

"Um, do you know why you were attacked…?" I tried not to glance at Spark when they knew about us watching the gym. Thankfully they didn't seem to know who was there, so we were safe. I could feel Spark's nerves from behind me. I watched Jasper's friend shake their head.

"They came out of no where, and I was just taking the direction I normally would. Maybe the people there startled it…. I feel better… I should go home." Seeing them start to get up, I decided to move out of the way for them. When they finally stood, I realized how much taller they were to me. Trying not to think much of it, I went to stand next to Spark, moving away from the other two.

"Oh, where is this gym at…?" I already knew, but I didn't want the two to have any sneaking suspicions about us. Since they had their map up, they came on over to show me, Jasper following right behind. I went to have a closer look. Spark was going to join me, but his phone started ringing. I let him answer that while they showed me the location.

"Hello, this is Spark. Blanche?" I was more focused on the person showing me the location than listening to Spark, but he got my attention when he tapped my shoulder. When I had the location memorized, I gave Spark a nod.

"We have to get going, too. Be careful on your way back. You should escort your friend." I looked at Jasper expectantly, and he gave me a nonchalant wave. I tried not to show my annoyance with how calm he was being. Spark stayed in the room, waiting on me to leave with him. Blanche seemed to be talking on the other line, since Spark switched to listening mode.

"Let's go, Spark." I started to head out of the room with Spark, who was relieved to leave. However, that relief went away when Jasper grabbed my shoulder. Spark wanted to say something, but he got interrupted by Blanche, since he had to answer their questions.

"May I talk to you privately for a moment?" Jasper pointed to an empty room nearby. I knew that we were in a hurry, but this sounded rather important judging by his tone. I gave him a nod, and we went into the other room. I did hear Spark call my name, but I gave him a glance to let him know it'll be okay. Him and Jasper's friend were left alone.

"Here, these are passes to New Moon Island. It's the Island that Darkrai stays. It can also take you to Full Moon, the Island that Cresselia stays. I cannot give you my Lunar Wing, but I can give you these. Perhaps you can help Darkrai get back home this way." I looked at the tickets that Jasper handed to me. There was only one ride for each Island, not enough for Spark to join me. We were team leaders, part of the league, so we had free access to most ships. However, these Islands were exclusive.

"How did you get these?" I expected an answer, but Jasper simply gave me a smile. I was going to hand them back to him, but he raised his hands, refusing.

"Keep them. They're your free pass. I don't need to go. We should get back, you have a phone call waiting, don't you?" he was quick to the chase, and easily dodging questions like our previous conversation. I sighed and put the tickets in my bag, heading back to Spark. He looked at me with a hint of worry, but I gave him a calm smile to ensure I was alright. Since the two had nothing else to say, we both left to head back to the inn. There was no need for us to have a personal conversation at the Pokémon Center.

Spark and Blanche were talking most of the way over the phone, but since Spark didn't have it on speaker, I had no idea what the conversation was about. I did hear Spark complain that my teammates took over his gym, which was quite amusing for me, but I wasn't able to hear Blanche's reaction.

"Alright, here. Now we can all talk…" Spark turned on the speaker button once we reached our room. We did have a while before check-out, so we were free to use this room until then.

"Hello, Blanche. Sorry for not saying hi earlier. We were with a couple trainers." When Spark turned on the video camera, I gave Blanche a warm wave. They blinked in response. We've only known Blanche for a little while, so it was hard to get a reaction out of them sometimes.

"It's fine, I heard from Spark. The ones that took over his gym, how unfortunate. You guys haven't met anyone from my team there yet." I gave them a nervous laugh, since normally we'd see a lot of mystic's nearby. It was like that all over Kanto, but here in Sinnoh we had a ton of members from our teams.

"Alright… now that we can all listen. As I said yesterday, I talked with Lance. He said you can take the boat to the Fight Area freely if you inform the League of who you are. You should be able to too Spark, but don't you have other business there? Why are you two still together? Usually one of you two would run away from each other." They were right, we would go our separate ways. We had a lot of explaining for Blanche. I looked at Spark, wondering who was going to do the explaining. Spark did know more than I did, but he still didn't seem comfortable telling me. I decided to share the information, letting Blanche know who Jasper was and about the Darkrai. Blanche seemed rather interested in the Pokemon more than my teammate.

"That still doesn't explain why you're together. What are you hiding, Spark? You've had that look on your face for a while now. It's pretty obvious." Blanche was rather observant. We were all trying to learn from each other, but it seems Blanche knew more about us than we knew about them.

"Um, well. I'm only worried for Candela. 'Team Void'… does not sound like a good team. She might lose half of her teammates, if Jasper obtains his goal." I couldn't help but feel giddy inside when Spark started to explain a little more. I took this as an opportunity to give him a hug, and he accepted it with welcoming arms. Even though we were all rivals, we worried for each other. It wouldn't be a rivalry if one of us fell through.

"You're right about that, but there have been people previously bringing up complaints. To me… it sounds like there's more to it than just your worry. Can you tell us, Spark?" Blanche was brave. I've been wanting to ask Spark the exact same question, but I didn't have the guts to do it alone. If Blanche was with me physically, I probably could, but they beat me to the punchline already. I listened to Spark's heart sink, I knew he was in a bind. We were both cornering him, after all. I let go of the hug, giving him some space. He rubbed the back of his head and picked up the phone, making me invisible from Blanche's view.

"I, uh… uh. I still don't have all the facts, it's mostly my intuition. Give me a while…" we both sighed at his answer. It was nearly impossible to get anything out of him, even if we knew he was hiding something. Eventually he would fess up and blurt it out to us, since he'd feel bad, but he was getting better at holding it all in.

"Alright, but you can't just tell one of us. You have to say it to both of us. Understand? I don't want to hide anything from either of you unless it's necessary." I crawled over behind Spark to see Blanche. Spark glanced away from both of us.

"Remember what our agreement was when we made our teams, Spark?" I asked, putting my hands on his shoulders. He leaned back into me a little.

"I know, I know. But you have research to do. I'll tell you both after." I looked at Blanche over the phone to see their reaction, and they simply gave Spark a stare-down.

"It might be too late then. But since you're the intuitive one, I'll leave that decision to you. I hope you know what you're doing, Spark. I'd come down there myself and take your place, but I have research here in Johto." I watched as Spark nearly dropped the phone. I was uncertain if he did that on purpose or not, but he did catch it rather quickly.

"Are you saying I can't handle it?" Spark sounded a little upset. I was starting to get annoyed, knowing there was bound to be an argument here in a few minutes.

"I'm saying you're making it sound like Candela can't handle it on her own. She's a team leader, like you are. You don't need to baby her, Spark." At least Blanche had some reasoning that I could understand, but the way I saw it, they were acting like children right now.

"That's not my intention. Tell them, Candela—ow!" I pulled his ear before he got me more involved in this. I didn't want to side with either one of them right now.

"I could simply leave your side like I always do, Spark. I don't see how this is any different. You're making no sense. Same with you, Blanche. You said you'd take his place, which is exactly the same. I'm more of an adult than both of you put together." I might've gone overboard with my words, but I couldn't help myself. Their child-like behavior was getting to me. I covered Spark's mouth before he could say anymore, since I didn't want him interrupting Blanche.

"…Don't call me unless you're ready to explain, Spark. Got it? Neither one of you." Without even giving us a goodbye, Blanche hung up the phone. I heard Spark whine underneath my grip. He grabbed my hand and pulled me away.

"You're being such a baby! If you really want to help me with Darkrai, then stop pouting and let's get going. But that's all your helping me with. I'll handle Jasper myself. No if's, and's or but's." I felt like a mother yelling at their child. I stood up and grabbed the rest of my things in our room. So far, this trip is not how I expected it to be. It was rather exhausting.

"Okay…" he went to grab his own things, and we both exited the room. After paying for it, I started to head to the ferry that was necessary. Luckily we were already in Canalave City, so this trip made it easier. On the way there, I heard someone shouting about a lottery. Spark immediately went to check it out. Even though I was mad at him, I waited, since I was also interested.

"What's this for?" he looked at everything on the table. Up above was a flyer of a ferry, it was the ferry that I was going to board. I did plan to hand Spark the other ticket, but now that might not be necessary.

"It's for a trip to Full Moon Island. You can also win a trip to New Moon Island. Want to give it a spin?" without second thoughts, Spark gave them his money and rolled the machine. Out came a pink ball with a number 01. He lifted it up and showed it to them.

"Wow, you have great luck! You got the ticket! Young miss, do you want to try to win the New Moon Island?" I knew Spark was lucky when it came to raffles, so it wasn't a surprise to me that he won. I gave them a nod. I already had a ticket to that place, but it'd give Spark a chance to come with me to the other Island. Giving them my money, I rolled the machine's handle. Out came a white ball with no numbers on it.

"Sorry, better luck next time! You do win a small prize though. Here, a souvenir." They handed me an item that looked very similar to the lunar wing, but it wasn't the real thing. I stared it down and decided to hand it to Spark. He shook his head, not wanting it. I placed it in my pocket for now, thinking of giving it to Blanche when we return.

"You may use that pass whenever you want. Have a safe trip when you do." They waved at us, and we headed back the direction we were originally planning on. Spark was focused on the pass in front of him as he followed behind me. I watched my footing as we moved. The location was right around the corner.

"We're here. Keep that out, Spark, you're going to need that." I pointed at the ticket, and he looked confused. I pulled my own ticket out and showed it to him. He finally understood, and we entered the house that owned the ferry.

"If you had that in the first place, why did you enter the raffle…?" Spark asked as we entered. There wasn't a whole lot inside the house; it was rather tiny.

"I have a pass for the other Island, too. You wanted to help with Darkrai. Unfortunately, I don't think you'll be able to get on the other Island with me." Spark looked baffled, but he calmed down when someone came around the corner.

"Oh? Dear, we have company." The ferry outside seemed to be family-owned. The sailor came into our view, and he smiled in greeting.

"Hello, I recognize you two. You were announced on the news as the leaders. Team Instinct and Team Valor. Where's Team Mystic's leader…?" I watched Spark's wave slow to a stop after the sailor had mentioned Team Mystic.

"Blanche is doing research in Johto. We happen to be doing research in Sinnoh." I said. Spark looked around the room while we conversed.

"Is that so? I'm quite fond of the Team Mystic leader. If I were a trainer, I'd join their team, but alas." I felt pained whenever someone talked highly of Blanche's team. It was probably because of our rivalry.

"…We were wondering if you could give us a ride to Fullmoon Island. We both have tickets. I also have a ticket to Newmoon." I showed him my tickets, and Spark did the same. I heard the man hum, and he gave us an okay symbol.

"I had a feeling that's why you two were here. Do you also have a ticket to Newmoon?" he looked at Spark, and Spark shook his head.

"I see. Then… you want a ride to Fullmoon Island first…?" he tilted his head, and we both nodded in response. I watched the man start to walk out, but he turned to look at us.

"Right this way. I am not sure what you two are researching, but if you're interested, I could also give you a ride to Iron Island." I've only heard little about that island, but it was on my list of things to do here. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to stop there once we're done here.

"I might go if I have time, I appreciate the offer. Have you heard anything about the Darkrai…?" I decided to be straight to the point.

"I know of it. It hasn't been on its Island… I don't know where it's last been seen. If you know, please tell me. It's put my son to sleep before." Spark and I both looked at each other as we walked onto the ship.

"Someone saw it not far from Canalave. I'd keep watch of your son…" for some reason, I expected Jasper to explain to them about the Darkrai, but it seems this man is clueless.

"My wife is, he should be fine with her. Now that I think about it, I haven't sighted Cresselia in a while… but if you see it, you might have the chance to get a Lunar Wing. Someone did a while back." I assumed that person he was speaking of was Jasper. I nodded in response, and went to find a place to sit on the ferry.

"…Candela, are you going to be okay?" Spark suddenly spoke up, sounding worried yet again.

"I'm fine, Spark. I'm still mad at you." I wanted to get over this feeling I had toward him, but it still lingered.

"…That's not what I meant. Last time you were on a boat, you…" he stopped talking when I glared at him. I did not want to be reminded of _that_. Instead of sitting next to me like he was wanting to, Spark sat across from me. We stayed quiet until we reached the Island. Thankfully for my sake, the ride was short.


	4. Chapter 4

It didn't take long for the boat to finally arrive. Luckily my stomach didn't mess up as bad as last time. Spark did offer me a hand, but I rejected it and helped myself. The sailor stayed by the ferry as Spark and I moved on ahead. We saw a lot of trees on the Island—it almost reminded me of Viridian Forest.

"Remember that time you got lost as a kid in Viridian Forest…?" Spark spoke up as if he read my mind. Baffled, I started to walk faster. He easily followed my pace. Sometimes I forget how quick on his feet Spark could be.

"How old were we then? Eight?" he continued to bring up the topic, despite my hints of ignorance. I sighed and shook my head.

"Around there. You got us even more lost, you know. Saying you saw a pink Pokémon. All we found were Pikachu's." I scoffed, finding it hard to believe I've known Spark for so long. Blanche came later in our lives.

"I did see a pink Pokémon! It had a tail…" he always sounded so sure of himself whenever this topic was brought up.

"Are you sure it wasn't a Clefairy?" I still didn't believe him, but he nodded frantically in reply. I tried very hard to remember if there was any pink Pokémon but nothing came to mind.

"It was pink as… as that Pokémon!" I had no clue what Spark was exclaiming until I looked up. The stories were true, Cresselia did stop by this Island. When we made eye contact, the pink Pokémon vanished just like that.

"Wait—man…" disappointed as his words, Spark put his raised-up hand back down to his side. We both headed over to where Cresselia once was, since we saw something fall. Spark made it to the destination first, and picked the item up. Now that we got a closer look, we both knew right away what it was.

"A Lunar Wing!" we announced in a coordination. At least we got something out of this trip. I hoped for more, but there was nothing else here. Not even a sign of a statue or anything of the sort.

"We should head back. I don't plan to wait for its return." I said, turning around to go back. Spark gave me a nod and we walked to the sailor. I hoped to get more than one Lunar Wing, but this would be enough for now. I clipped it on my belt as I had with the other one. I did plan to give it to Spark, but since I was still mad at him, I wanted to wait.

"You made it back! Did you both see Cresselia?" the sailor was fine—we both nodded in reply to him. He patted his chest, giving us reassurance.

"Trust this old man to take you back safely. Are you two ready?" I nodded again, and started to head back onto the ship. I stopped when I didn't hear any footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw Spark standing still, in thinking.

"Spark? Are you alright?" I crossed my arms, hoping my movement grabbed his attention. He hummed softly in reply. I wanted to get out of here.

"Something's telling me to stay a little longer. Can you wait here?" Spark asked, finally breaking free from his thoughts. For some reason, I disliked it when he asked me to wait on him.

"No. You always try to do things on your own when it comes to your intuition. Let me help." I might've been mad at him, but I still cared for him. I marched on over to his spot, and he blinked in surprise. I grabbed his shoulder, trying to get him to snap out of his current thought process. Not long after, I gave him a rough shake.

"O-okay ok! You can come with me! We'll be back, sir!" somehow, scaring the living daylights out of him worked. I started to drag him, but the sailor hollered.

"Wait, you two. Make sure to come back by 5pm, otherwise it'll be too dark!" I saw Spark give him a thumbs up.

"Don't worry, it won't even take that long!" Spark hollered back, and escaped my grip. He went on ahead, back the path we came from. I didn't know what he expected to find, since this was a small Island.

"Jolty, we need your help." He let out the familiar yellow electric type, the Jolteon shook its head soon as it appeared. It started to sniff around, guiding us to whatever it found most interesting.

"Spark… do you know what you're looking for?" this felt like a waste of time to me, which is probably why Spark offered me to stay in the first place. But sometimes when his intuition activated, bad things happened, and it creeped me out.

"Nope. This is how intuition works. You've known me for how long and still haven't figure it out?" he grinned widely and moved ahead to walk beside his Jolteon. The two of them were like partners in crime.

"We could always come back later…" I sighed and started to look for anything we might've missed. However, everything looked the same to me. I grumbled under my breath and leaned against the nearest tree, watching Spark and Jolty move on ahead. They ran around wildly, but then Jolteon started barking. After hearing the Pokémon, we went to see what it found.

Up ahead was a small shrine, one that we somehow overlooked. I went on over and bent down, seeing small offerings inside the shrine. Like any other legendary, the Pokémon was worshipped. I gave Cresselia my prayers, but when I opened my eyes once I was done, I saw Spark holding something in his hands.

"That isn't an offering, is it?" I narrowed my yellow eyes and walked over to him. He pointed at a symbol in the corner of the letter he held. It was a dark circle, with a little red in-between. The writing was in cursive, and it was in another language I couldn't understand. I did know a handful of languages, but not this one.

"I don't think Cresselia will miss it. It looks like it's for Darkrai, see?" his index finger moved to a small picture of Darkrai. We both got distracted once we saw Spark's Jolteon pawing at something on the ground. It was white and black in color, and it had a strange texture to it.

"That's an Enigma Berry!" Spark smiled at the sight of it and picked it up. It looked like something other than a berry to me. I raised a brow and examined it closer, checking to see if it had a smell. Unfortunately, it only smelled of the dirt it laid on.

"Shouldn't we leave this here, Spark?" I placed my hand on top of the berry he was holding and stared at him intently. He gave me an absent-minded shrug. I narrowed my eyes and sighed deeply.

"It'll be fine. This is clearly for Darkrai, my instincts tell me so! Let's head back, I think we're done here." He put the two items in his bag and walked back to the sailor. I patted Jolty on the head and we both followed behind.

It didn't take long to make it back, and it wasn't too late in the day. The sailor was quite pleased that we stayed on schedule. Spark and I sat in the same seats as last time, and didn't talk to each other. This time around, Spark was humming that same familiar tune from before. I started to hum along with, but soon as his gaze met with my eyes, I stopped. He formed a stretched smile across his face, chin in his palm, and continued to hum the rest of the song. I knew then that it would be stuck in my head for the rest of the trip.

When we made it to the shore, I looked at Spark to see if there was anything else he wanted to do here. He shook his head. We were about to walk away, but then I saw Spark's eyes light up with a burning passion soon as the sailor's kid came into view.

"Daddy, are they leaving already?" the little boy clutched onto a Pokémon egg, one that had an interesting blue and black design. I gave the kid a warm-hearted smile, but really, I felt happy for the Pokémon he held onto.

Whatever worries Spark had carried were completely gone at the sight of the egg. Whenever he saw one that was unfamiliar to him, he'd forget about his surroundings. Carried away much as his excitement, Spark kneeled to pat the egg. I thought I saw it wiggle.

"You're going to be a great Pokémon that's in great care, I just know it! What will the egg hatch into, do you know?" he had a cheeky grin on his face. The boy noticed Spark's affection and handed him the egg so he could have a chance to hold onto it. Spark took the offer and wrapped his arms into a tight hug. I could tell the egg was feeling warmer already.

"A Riolu. Daddy said a nice man gave it to him, and he's letting me take care of it when he's busy! They can be found on Iron Island." I listened to the boy and looked at the sailor. The sailor gave me a nod in response.

"Aww, Riolu are cute Pokémon, I wish we had them in Kanto! If your daddy lets you, you should nickname the Pokémon." After rocking the egg a few more times, Spark handed the egg back to the boy. The boy's eyes lighted up and he nodded, Spark's enthusiasm had warmed up the boy's heart just as he had with the Pokémon egg.

"Who gave you Riolu…?" I questioned, watching the sailor rub his finger under his nose. I noticed he was a proud father.

"Someone named Riley. They take my ship to Iron Island from time to time. He said he gave another boy a Riolu egg. In fact, they're on that Island right now." I tilted my head. For some reason, that name was slightly familiar to me, but I couldn't place why. Spark came over and tugged on my sleeve. The egg seemed to have lightened his spirits.

"Can we go? Can we? I want one too! It'll help me a lot! And the guy seems to know how to take care of eggs…" the researcher mode was burning within him. Well, it's not like we were in a rush to the battle frontier since we still had a while. Spark did want me to enjoy my time on this field trip, too. I looked to the side and took a moment to think about it. His enthusiasm and child-like behavior was quite tempting when it came to changing my mind.

"Alright, alright. Riolu are strong in power, so it'll help me, too." Soon as I answered, he charged in and hugged me. I let out an "Oomph," and waited for him to let go. Somehow, I wasn't mad at him anymore. He let go of me and patted the Pokémon egg one more time.

"I might be able to keep one of your sisters! Or brothers! Just wait a little longer, okay?" he talked to the eggs as if they were his own children. It probably wasn't necessary, but he did have a theory that Pokémon eggs could hear us like newborn human children can in a mother's womb.

"Before we go… do you have any medicine to help sea-sickness?" I asked the sailor and he blinked in surprise, but handed some to me regardless. I took the medicine now so it would kick in, luckily this was the non-drowsy kind. We both got on board again. I was starting to get tired of ships… just the thought of taking one back home was making my head spin. I had to calm down somehow. I looked over to the side, and saw the boy waving with the egg in hand. Spark was waving back frantically, and I smiled and waved back. The boat was already starting to move.

As if he noticed my head was starting to pulse, Spark placed a hand on my forehead. I blinked a few times, wondering when he got so close to me, and when he changed seats. His blue eyes met with my yellow. Slowly, I grabbed his hand that he placed on me, and narrowed my eyes.

"Are you getting a fever?" he asked worriedly. I shook my head in response. There was nothing wrong with me from what I knew, other than the fact we were on the boat. I let go of his hand and he gave me my space. He continued to stare at me.

"Spark, I'm _fine_. You worry about the strangest things." I grumbled the rest of my sentence, and remembered he didn't want me worrying on this trip. If he didn't want me worrying, then he shouldn't worry either. We had to help each other somehow.

"Sorry, I'm probably overthinking it. But you do look peeked compared to the last boat trip… will a song help?" he placed his index finger against his lips and switched to thinking mode. I held my head and prayed to Arceus that he wouldn't get another song stuck in my head.

"Listening to the waves is enough. I still have a few more boat trips, I should get used to it." I went to look at the sky, but the blonde next to me was already humming another familiar tune. I tried my best to ignore it.

It didn't take long for the boat to dock. Iron Island was a lot closer than the other one, or at least it felt like it was. It was most likely because we conversed this time around that made the trip feel shorter. I let Spark hop off first, since this was considered his trip. He stretched his arms in the air, looking pumped. I waved at the sailor and we started to find the entrance to the cave that he spoke of.

When we went up the stairs, we did see the house that Byron owned. We talked to the assistant in there, and they said Riley was in the mines. According to them, someone went running inside. Spark and I looked at each other, knowing that the sailor didn't drop them off with us. We thanked them (I just smiled, Spark did most of the chatter) and went into the mines.

It wasn't too hard to see, but I brought out my Charizard just in case. There were a few workers in the mines, and we asked them for Riley's whereabouts. They said someone else was looking for them. We had a feeling it was the intruder from before, so we moved forward.

Up the stairs we heard an extremely loud screech- I had to cover my ears and Spark flinched. We hurried to see who it was, prepared to engage in a battle if needed. There was a large Steelix hovering over a few workers that were crouching against the wall, their eyes closed from the sudden shock. I moved to command my Charizard to help them, the lizard Pokémon at the ready, but Spark grabbed my arm and placed a finger against his lips. His blue eyes saw something I didn't, and that was a rather familiar person wearing a dark blue hat not far away from us.

"Aura Sphere!" the trainer shouted, his pale fingers holding onto his cap. His fighting-duo type Pokémon summoned the instructed move into its blue palms, the light sphere expanding larger and pulsing with energy. The Pokémon focused its gaze on the Steelix, making sure the attack would hit its target.

It wasn't long before the blue aura was accurately casted right into the large Steelix. The workers stayed in their place, and the Steelix's body landed on the opposite side of them. It rumbled its belly and stood back up, sharpening its steel-like body with Harden. It had a sharp mind, being able to think quickly without the help of a trainer. The Steelix took this chance to use Dig, diving into the earth below us.

Spark scooted close to me, watching the battle intently. I noticed he held onto a pokéball in his hand, ready to interfere if he had to. However, the man that was ruling the battle looked calm and dignified. His Pokémon was also full of potential, just as much as the Steelix was. It was interesting to me that even a wild Pokémon was strong and courageous. The steel-type gave me a good vibe—I almost wanted to catch it. Unfortunately, this wasn't my battle, so that thought would have to depend on the trainer that's currently engaged in the match.

"You workers should get out of the way, quickly!" the trainer's soft yet severe voice sounded promising. The workers took this opportunity and went to a safer location. I wondered where there working Pokémon were to help them out in situations like this one, but I slid that thought aside and stayed focused on the battle for now.

"There—use Force Palm, grab it!" I didn't notice until now, but they had their eyes closed when giving the commands. Their Pokémon also had their eyes closed, probably sometime when the Steelix dug underground. It seemed to have been scanning the area. As if on cue, the Pokémon jumped on its feet when its trainer shouted, and out came the Steelix. Around the same time the Steelix reached out to attack, the trainer's Pokémon used its palms. The Steelix let out a loud screech like before and fell back to the ground, its body trembling. Even though it was low on HP, the Steelix opened its eyes and narrowed them at the other. Making the floor shake from its growl, it looked about ready to strike again, but it suddenly focused in our direction instead.

"…Candela…" Spark's voice brought me out of whatever focus I was entranced in. The aura around me swayed in an intricate style, one that was different from before. It was so alarming that even the Steelix could feel the violent pulsing of energy that was evolving at a rapid pace, like how fire would continue to build the more wood it managed to burn. I hadn't realized that the Valor within me started to activate just from watching the match. I held onto my chest and tried to calm down my demeanor.

"Leader Candela, the auras within you now. Take this chance to trust in the instincts that support you, and the wisdom that follows not too far behind you. Focus on your power within!" the trainer spoke clearly from where he stood, filling the caves with his words like he was a dictator. I knew what he was trying to tell me: now was my chance. I outstretched my finger toward the direction of the Steelix, not fazed by its peering eyes. I smirked and pulled a great ball out of my storage, taking this opportunity to toss the ball and try to catch it. There was no need to weaken the Pokémon much further; it was already close to its breaking point.

Three, two, one…

 _Click_.

I caught it, easier than I expected. My outraged aura started to finally settle now that the battle was over. I walked on over to the great ball and picked it up, staring at the object that held the newest edition to my team. I smiled, but it faded quickly as it came when I felt the energy around me start to pick up once more.

The Pokémon that was battling the Steelix let out a similar vibe of energy. I knew what it wanted, and I planned to give it exactly what it wants. Its trainer smiled under their hat with moderation.

"I'm not sure why you two are out on a journey, but would you like a battle with me? I won't disappoint you. I'm Riley, you two can skip the introductions if you'd like. However, inside the mine… we should do the battle outside. The Pokémon are becoming restless." His words were calming, yet quick to the point. I normally didn't accept matches from random trainers, but this trainer and his Pokémon were different. I did give him a nod, but Spark couldn't believe that I agreed.

"Candela, are you sure? He's just… an average, every day trainer, with no affiliation to us… I notice you choose your battles wisely…" Spark sounded flustered, but I simply gave him a shrug in reply.

"I recognize him. He's a participant in the Sinnoh Battle Tower, so to be able to battle him now is an honor for me. I'll know what I'm up against once I get there." I walked on over to the Lucario, and met its gaze. The Lucario looked up at me, its eyes ready for anything. The match it had earlier seemed to have it pumped.

"I don't have my Battle Tower team, so it won't be official. Let's go outside. After the match… I think I have something you would like to see." Riley looked at Spark, and Spark tilted his head in confusion. He then started to lead the way, the Lucario following swiftly behind after giving me another glance. I grabbed Spark and dragged him with us, not giving him enough time to react.

"Wait wait—Candela, I wanted to see a baby Riolu hatch! And what about the intruder?" I paused after Spark finished his sentence, giving him a chance to walk on his own two feet once I let go. He straightened his jacket stretched his back, waving a hand in front of my face in attempts to get my attention. I grabbed his hand and moved it back to his side.

"Stop that. I thought I saw something." I said quietly, adding more to the suspense. I started to move ahead, leaving Spark in his spot, but he quickly followed behind me.

"W-what are you talking about? Maybe you're imagining things again," he spoke nervously, and I stopped again. He bumped into me. I sighed and grabbed hold of his arm, dragging him behind once more.

"I'm joking, Spark. Lighten up some. That's what you've been trying to tell me, right?" I realized my mouth slipped a little, since he wasn't supposed to know I knew, but he blinked in surprise. He rubbed the back of his head and laughed, realizing I was only joking around with him. When he calmed down, I let him go and we continued to follow Riley.

"…Did you two bring a guest with you?" Riley's words completely ruined the scene I had with Spark moments ago—I could already tell without looking at Spark that he had a shiver behind his spine.

"No, but a worker said earlier that someone unfamiliar was around these parts." I spoke up, giving Spark a pat on the shoulder. He finally calmed down a little bit, but little things like these did seem to trouble his thought process.

"We'll have to stop for now, then. I'd like to find out who our unwelcomed guest is. Sorry for the delay in our battle, but the Pokémon are top priority here. I'd like it if you two would support me." His words were sincere. I patted the Charizard that was beside me, showing that we were ready for anything. Spark gave a nod in reply. Although he wasn't as battle-strong as me and Blanche, he still had it in him (albeit creatively), and that's part of the reason he made a great leader.

"I'll heal your team along the way if they need it. We should hurry. You feel it too, don't you?" as if reading the aura that was coming off Spark, he gave him a double nod in response. I knew then that Spark's intuition had activated, and at times like these it was best to believe in it.

"I believe you should lead the way." He told Spark with a soft voice. Something about Riley's voice was rather soothing, but I couldn't quite place it. Spark agreed to his words and went to follow his instincts, leading our small group that we formed together. We didn't know what we were going to find, but we knew that whoever was in here was making the Pokémon restless. We had to find a way to stop them, before it's too late.


End file.
